The Abia State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Eze Chikamnayo, has accused a former Governor of the state, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, of betraying Ndigbo in 1999 when he suddenly sabotaged the Presidential ambition of Chief Alex Ekwueme who was at the verge of clinching the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Chikamnayo who made the allegation yesterday at a world press conference in Umuahia said the former governor did not have the moral integrity to parade himself now as a mouthpiece for Ndigbo.
The Commissioner who was reacting to alleged “serial media attacks on Abia government by Kalu”, said the ex-governor was only jealous of the towering achievements of incumbent Gov. Theodore Orji, hence his resolve to blackmail him through publication of falsehood.
He accused Kalu of using his media outfit to malign the office and person of the incumbent who he said had dwarfed Kalu’s “self- acclaimed achievements” in office.
Chikamnayo said none of the roads Kalu claimed to have built in Abia while in office could survive till date less than eight years he left office, arguing that any durable road has at least a life span of 10 years.
He challenged Kalu to publish any three structures he erected in Umuahia the state capital while he was governor, vowing to resign his appointment as Commissioner if the ex-governor can prove him wrong.
Chikamnayo lamented that whereas Kalu ruled Abia from a rented apartment as Government House, the ex-governor, he alleged, at the same time built with state funds a private country home on over two kilometers of land in his Igbere community.
He said, “Abia became poorer while Kalu and his family were getting richer during his tenure as governor.”
He argued that his only grouse against the incumbent is that he has refused to allow him (Kalu) access to Abia treasury.
Corroborating this position, former Commissioner for Information who also served under Kalu, Chief Anthony Agbazuere, said while the ex-governor “received support by coercion, the incumbent receives support by volition because he is sincere to the people.”
He warned Kalu to stop disparaging his successor but to show respect to the exalted office of the governor otherwise, he would be inviting the wrath of Abia masses “whose governor he is insulting”.
He said, “Kalu is not the only former governor in Nigeria. Former governor of Enugu State, Chimarokee Nnamani is not insulting Sullivan Chime, neither is former Ebonyi State Governor fighting his successor.”
Adding his voice, Commissioner for Petroleum, and former Adviser to Kalu, Chief Don Ubani said, “Kalu was being driven by the apprehension of the reality of failure.”
He said Kalu who allegedly boasted that no Ukaw/ Ngwa person would ever become governor of the state was only obsessed by Orji’s commitment to handing over power to a successor of Ukwa/ Ngwa extraction in 2015, a feat which Kalu had vigorously resisted.
Ubani expressed surprise that “Kalu who had the opportunity to transform Abia for eight years he was in charge but did not, suddenly turned around to champion media war against his successor who has by his excellent performances made mockery of Kalu’s tenure”.
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Kalu betrayed Ndigbo -Abia Commissioner
